KSEC HITS THE GROUND RUNNING FOR FALL SEMESTER!

​By Sammy Meador, Intern, KY Student Environmental Coalition​

19 Eastern Kentucky University Green Crew members pose for a photo petition, holding a banner reading, "Our Water, Our Future"

A grid of 16 images, each featuring 1 or 2 Murray State University students holding a blue sign reading, "Our Water, Our Future"

36 young Kentuckians pose in front of a bus, holding a sign reading, "The Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition"

​About 20 people, mostly youth, march in Berea. One holds a sign reading, "20% of emissions are from motor vehicles"

12 people, mostly youth, pose with signs at Lexington's Climate March.

The Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition is gearing up for the 2014-2015 school year, and it’s shaping up to be as strong as ever. In a few weeks, we are hosting our Fall Summit, which will be a great opportunity for Kentucky youth to learn about our work and get plugged in. Plus, we'll be camping, eatin good food, and having lots of fun. Until then, here's a recap of our already busy semester!

Just a few weeks into the semester, we’ve already had a statewide day of action in solidarity with the Alliance for Appalachia’s “Our Water, Our Future” event, calling on lawmakers to enforce protections for frontline coal extraction communities.

Yesterday, 36 of our members shook up New York City at the People’s Climate March. There, they joined over 300,000 other environmental justice advocates and environmentalists from around the country and around the world to urge world leaders at Ban Ki-moon’s Climate Summit to take strong action to protect our future on this planet.

They were joined in Kentucky by students of Berea College HEAL, who hosted a solidarity march in tandem with the New York City People’s Climate March. They were also joined by KSEC members marching in solidarity in Lexington.

On campus, high school and college students across the state are making plans to pressure their administrators to protect our communities, from banning Styrofoam plates in their cafeterias at DuPont Manual, to creating a long term a Climate Action Plan at the University of Kentucky, to creating a green fee at Murray State University. There’s so much amazing work to do this semester and we’re hitting the ground running!
Want to join us? Our next big event is on October 10, when youth environmentalists from all over the state will convene at our Fall Summit to learn more about the issues we work on, gain some new skills, and plan for the coming year. We will meet at Wiley’s Last Resort, on the top of beautiful Pine Mountain:

It will be a weekend not just for leaders, but for any student and young adult in Kentucky who wants to learn about what we’re doing and join in on the fun! There will also be opportunities to see a mountaintop removal site, hike Pine Mountain, and take a tour of Appalshop, the Appalachian cultural center in Whitesburg, KY. Click here for more information, and be sure to register by October 1st!

Jim Webb, owner of the venue, sits on a swing in front of sign reading "Wiley's Last Resort"

Green foliage foregrounds blue-gray mountains blanketed in fog. Taken from the top of Pine Mountain. Photo credit: Ian MacLellan